From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A recall election (also called a recall
referendum or representative recall) is a
procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from
office through a direct vote (plebiscite), initiated
when sufficient voters sign a petition. Recall has a history dating
back to the ancient Athenian democracy.[1] During
the American Revolution the Articles of Confederation stipulated
that state legislatures might recall delegates from the continental
congress.[2] The Virginia Plan,
issued at the outset of the Philadelphia Convention of
1787, proposed to pair recall with rotation in office, and to apply
these dual principles to the lower house of the national
legislature.

Contents

United
States

Along with the initiative, the referendum, and the direct primary, the recall election was one
of the major electoral reforms advocated by leaders
of the Progressive movement in the United States
during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, although it was
initially proposed in William S. U'Ren's Oregon newspaper. Recall
elections do not take place at the federal level. The majority of
states allow recall elections in local jurisdictions, but only
eighteen states permit recall elections to remove state
officials.[3]

Only two governors have ever been successfully recalled. In
1921, Lynn
Frazier, Governor of North Dakota, was recalled during a
dispute about state-owned industries, and in 2003, Governor Gray Davis of California was recalled
over the state budget.

In Alaska, Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Rhode Island, and Washington, specific grounds are required
for a recall. Some form of malfeasance or misconduct while in
office must be identified by the petitioners. The target may choose
to dispute the validity of the grounds in court, and a court then
judges whether the allegations in the petition rise to a level
where a recall is necessary. In the other eleven states that permit
state-wide recall, no grounds are required and recall petitions may
be circulated for any reason. However, the target is permitted to
submit responses to the stated reasons for recall.

The minimum number of signatures and the time limit to qualify a
recall vary between states. In addition, the handling of recalls
once they qualify differs. In some states, a recall triggers a
simultaneous special election, where the vote on the recall, as
well as the vote on the replacement if the recall succeeds, are on
the same ballot. In the 2003
California recall election, over 100 candidates appeared on the
replacement portion of the ballot. In other states, a separate
special election is held after the target is recalled, or a
replacement is appointed by the Governor or some other state
authority.

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Successful
recalls

1983 recall of Michigan state senators Phil Mastin and David
Serotkin due to their support for a state income tax hike. Loss of
these two Democratic lawmakers, along with two special elections
won by Republicans, flipped the state senate to GOP control, where
it has remained ever since (as of January 2010.) [5]

Evan Mecham,
Governor of Arizona, was
scheduled for a recall election on May 17, 1988 after a successful
petition drive (301,000 signatures). However, the Supreme Court of
Arizona canceled the election, since Mecham had already been
impeached and removed from office by the Senate on April 4.[11]

Canada

The Province of British Columbia enacted
representative recall in 1995. In that province, voters in a
provincial riding can petition to have
a sitting representative removed from office, even a Premier
presently leading a government. If enough registered voters sign
the petition, the Speaker
of the legislature announces before the House that the member has
been recalled and a by-election follows as soon as possible,
giving voters the opportunity to replace the politician in
question. By January 2003, 22 recall efforts had been launched. No
one has been recalled so far, but one representative, Paul Reitsma,
resigned in 1998 when it looked as if the petition to recall him
would have enough signatures to spur a recall election. Reitsma
resigned during the secondary verification stage, and the recall
count ended.

Article 72: All [...] offices filled by popular
vote are subject to revocation.

Once one-half of the term of office to which an official
has been elected has elapsed, a number of voters representing at
least 20% of the registered voters in the affected constituency may
petition for the calling of a referendum to revoke that official's
mandate.

When a number of voters equal to or greater than the
number of those who elected the official vote in favour of the
recall, provided that a number of voters equal to or greater than
25% of the total number of registered voters vote in the recall
referendum, the official's mandate shall be deemed revoked and
immediate action shall be taken to fill the permanent vacancy as
provided for by this Constitution and by law.

References

^
Article V of the Articles of Confederation provided, "a power
reserved to each state, to recall its delegates, or any of them, at
any time within the year, and to send others in their stead, for
the remainder of the Year."